Strange New Friend
by YukiSkye
Summary: Evan meets a strange new friend while out wandering lost in a forest one day.


4/6(+) stories complete

* * *

_Master, are we lost?_

Evan sighed and wiped his forehead.

They've been walking through this forest for a few hours now with no end in sight and Evan was starting to get that sinking feeling they'll never get out. Mir had flown up a couple of times but all he could see was mountains, forest, forest, and… more forest.

"Er… why don't we rest for a bit, Mir? I'm feeling a bit tired."

_Okay_, Mir agreed and Evan plopped down under the nearest tree and wondered what to do.

Mir wasn't strong enough yet to fly them both out of such a large forest and he had no idea how to navigate such thick woods.

He reckoned it was around one in the afternoon judging by the sun's position so he still had a few more hours to figure something out before nightfall.

A loud rustle from some bushes in front of him immediately had him alert, jumping up onto his feet and gripping his wand tightly just as Mir crouched down, ready to fight.

That didn't sound like something an animal would make.

They waited, bodies tense and still.

Another rustle, this time to their right and Evan cautiously made his way over with Mir not far behind.

He peeked through the bushes, moving to venture further in when he saw nothing beyond. If there was a monster nearby, it was best to take care of it before sitting down to rest again.

There was the sound of something shuffling nearby.

Closer… Closer…

With a loud cry, Evan burst through the underbrush and released a wave of flames to blind whatever lay beyond while Mir charged ahead, growling.

There was a yelp of surprise, a loud smack, and a low whine that sounded like it came from Mir.

"Mir! Are you okay?" Evan called, running over towards his fallen partner who lay a few feet away in an apparent daze.

He turned towards his opponent defensively but stopped and gaped at the boy in front of him who had… dragon wings and… horns and… and was that a _tail?_

"Hey! Who're you? Why'd you attack me?" the boy demanded, scowling as he brandished the rather intimidating sword in his hands. How on earth did he manage to even lift that thing? It was practically as tall as he was!

Evan worked his jaw a few times before he could find his voice again. "S-sorry. I thought you were a monster…" he managed to stammer out, eyes still glued to the wings and tail. Was he seeing things?

The boy quirked his brow and lowered his blade. "Monster? I'm not a monster."

"Yeah but I thought you were," Evan mumbled before turning towards Mir. "You okay?"

_I think so_, Mir answered, getting up on all fours and shaking himself like a dog.

"Nice dragon you got there," the boy said, nodding towards Mir. "He almost knocked me off my feet when he charged me."

"Uh, thanks," Evan said uncertainly, trading looks with his partner. Was it safe for him to know about Mir?

"What's your name anyway kid? I'm Kaiser," he continued, tilting his head up proudly as he introduced himself.

_Kid? You can't be that much older than me_, Evan thought sourly but nonetheless answered the question. "I'm Evan and this is Mir."

_Hi!_

Kaiser blinked at the voice sounding in his head. "That's totally cool! Can I get a closer look?"

Evan hesitated, giving Mir a sidelong look.

_I don't mind if you don't mind, master._

"I guess that's okay," Evan consented.

Kaiser sheathed his sword and drew closer, marveling at the dragon while Mir preened at the attention. "Wow. Does everyone here have a dragon? This is my first time seeing a real one."

"Errr no? I'm the only one as far as I know," Evan replied, eyes once again riveted at the wings on Kaiser's back. "Um, are those…"

"Huh? What? These?" Kaiser asked, noticing Evan's stare. "What about them?"

"Are they… real?"

Kaiser shot him a strange look. "Well duh, of course they're real," he scoffed, flapping his wings and moving his tail in emphasis. "Why wouldn't they be?"

"It's just that I've never seen anyone like you before," Evan replied, somewhat awed as he stared at the appendages.

"Oh that. Well that might be 'cause I'm from another world," Kaiser explained, shrugging.

"Another… world?"

"Yeah like a portal opened up that connected my world to yours and now I'm out here trying to get some help to fight against this evil guy, Magnus, and free Heliseum, our capital."

"Oh… So what're you doing out here then?"

Kaiser scratched the back of his head a bit sheepishly. "I'm uh… I may be a _little_ lost."

"So you're lost," Evan reiterated.

"Hey cut me some slack alright? S'the first time I've been here you know?" Kaiser groaned. "This place is _huge!_ I should get a medal or something for making it this far!"

"I guess that makes sense," Evan said. "I'm lost too."

"Whoa really? So we're both lost? Wait you live here don't you? How can you be lost?"

"I'm not from around here either," Evan retorted a bit grumpily. "You have wings don't you? Why don't you just fly out of here?"

"Can't. Wing's too small," Kaiser admitted reluctantly. "What about you? Can't you just ride your dragon out?"

"Can't. Mir's not strong enough yet to hold me up for very long so high above ground," Evan said resignedly.

_Sorry master. I'll grow big and strong and then I'll be able to carry you anywhere you want!_ Mir offered, nuzzling Evan's side.

Evan smiled at the dragon and looped an arm around his neck in a hug.

"Well this sucks," Kaiser announced. "Hey, why don't we travel together? I mean might as well right?"

"Sure I guess that'd be no problem but uh… can you keep Mir a secret? No one's supposed to know about him," Evan said, fidgeting nervously.

"Sure thing. Your secret's safe with me. Promise," Kaiser assured, making a gesture as though zipping up his lips.

Evan grinned, sensing an air of sincerity around him as he made the promise. Kaiser didn't seem like such a bad guy even though he's a bit rough around the edges and kind of full of himself but he could look past that. "Thanks."

"Hey no problem. We're buddies now, right?"

Evan shrugged as they started walking. "Sure. Where were you headed?"

"Uhhh… Some place called Omega Sector. What? Why're you looking at me like that?"

Evan shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that… that's kind of far from here like… _really _far."

"Darn it! I knew I shouldn't've listened to that guy giving me directions," Kaiser grumbled, scowling and kicking an errant rock in his way. "Argh. Guess I'll just have to loop back. So where are you going?"

"Herb Town. It should be somewhere around here, I think."

"Cool. Kylan and everyone else would wanna research there too so I might be going there someday. Maybe right after I help him with Omega Sector."

"Sounds like you've been to a lot of places already."

"Sure have! I've been through a mall, underground, cities in the clouds, this really snowy and cold place, the ocean, a weird town, and a whole city made of toys!" Kaiser exclaimed, ticking off the places on his fingers. "This place has some pretty weird things going on."

"I've been to some of those places before. They're pretty awesome right?"

"Yeah! They're all pretty interesting! I dunno 'bout how sick the jams and beats here can make me though but it's still a pretty cool place. But man, you guys sure are weird I mean, it can't be great to get sick every time you listen to music."

"Whoa wait," Evan said, halting in abruptly in his tracks and staring incredulously at Kaiser. "_What?_"

Kaiser blinked back at him. "You mean you guys don't?"

"No! Where'd you get that idea?"

Kaiser shrugged, scratching his head. "I dunno. That's what Fenelle told me. She said that's the kind of music you guys listen to and that it makes people sick."

"Well what else did they tell you?"

"Uuuh… That those penguin things are jerks, Yetis are turning into hair, that there's a legend about some Sky Dragon that ate rabbits to become human and then ate all the goblins, and uh… oh! And that grown-ups stop knowing how to be fun and uhhh... a bunch of other stuff."

Evan sniggered at the fourth one. "Well… Yeah okay maybe the last one's true but everything else is totally wrong. I don't even know what you meant by the third thing you said!"

Kaiser scrunched up his nose, putting his hands behind his head as they continued walking. "Really? So does that mean Fenelle and the others were wrong?"

"If they're telling you all that weird stuff then I'd say yeah!" Evan exclaimed in a way that made it clear he couldn't quite believe anyone could come up with what he had just heard.

"Huh… Well maybe you can talk to them one day and tell them everything you know."

"Why can't you just tell them?" Evan objected.

"'Cause then I'd have to remember all that stuff and as cool as being in another dimension and all is, I still have more important things to do," Kaiser replied proudly.

"Like getting lost?" Evan snickered.

Kaiser shot him a look. "No. Saving Heliseum!"

"That was your capital wasn't it? And you said that someone took it over?" Evan asked curiosity piqued. "What happened?"

"Yeah Magnus," Kaiser said, scowling fiercely at the name. "He was a traitor who let in the bad guys and took over Heliseum. Everyone else escaped to Pantheon where our temple was and put up a shield to stop him from coming in. We're trying to get our capital back now but we need some help so here I am! The research thing is just an errand and I'm training while I'm at it so I can't really complain."

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear about that," Evan said sincerely. It was hard to imagine what it was like to be driven from home like that but he knew if that ever happened to him, he'd be devastated.

"Hey why the long face?" Kaiser asked, slinging an arm around Evan's shoulders. "Now that their hero, the great Kaiser is reborn, we're going to win for sure!" he declared, gesturing wildly as he spoke and Evan smiled. It was good that he still had that kind of spirit and determination despite how grim his situation seemed to be.

"I thought Kaiser was your name," Evan commented.

"Well actually it's more like a ah… what everyone just calls me. My real name's Kyle but that's boring so you can just call me Kaiser!"

Evan rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say. So what's Pantheon like?"

"It's a pretty neat place. Kinda small though but it's still full of things to train on. Me and my best friends Tear and Velderoth made a secret base and the Heliseum Force and everything so we can help free our capital."

Kaiser's brow furrowed and Evan looked at him questioningly. "What's wrong?"

Kaiser shook his head. "Nah it's nothing. Just wondering how everyone's doing back home. Tear was pretty upset last time I saw her and Velderoth ran off somewhere. I wonder if he came back yet. Well, I'm sure they're fine. They're pretty tough when it comes down to it!"

But despite his words, Evan could still pick out traces of worry in his expression and maybe even a bit of homesickness.

"Hey, they'll be alright I mean, have a little faith in them. Besides, it's not as though you can't see how they're doing when you visit."

Kaiser grinned. "Yeah I guess you're right."

A loud grumble interrupted their conversation and both looked towards the source of the noise.

_Master, I'm hungry,_ Mir whined.

"Hungry? He's not going to eat me is he?" Kaiser asked, staring at the dragon.

Evan shot him a slightly indignant look as did Mir. "Course not. Just 'cause Mir's a dragon doesn't mean he goes around eating people."

_Yeah! I would never eat people! That's wrong!_ Mir agreed, snout scrunched up in an expression of disgust.

Evan sighed. "I guess we could stop for lunch. I haven't eaten anything since this morning. What about you?"

"Same. I've been trying to get out of this stupid forest all morning," Kaiser growled.

_Master, I'm going to go hunt now. Do you want me to catch you anything?_

Evan smiled. "No thanks Mir. I still have some food left. You go on ahead." He turned towards Kaiser. "What about you? Do you want to share?" he asked, noting the rather thin and empty-looking pack he was carrying with him.

"No thanks. You save up your food. I'll go hunt too," Kaiser said.

Mir seemed to perk up at that. _You'll go hunting with me?_

"Sure! Let's see who could catch something the quickest!" He glanced at Evan who was seating himself underneath one of the trees. "You'll be okay here right? I mean, there could be monsters out there."

"No, I think I'm fine. There hasn't really been monsters around so it should be safe."

"Well okay but if something comes at you, give a shout and we'll come right back. Now c'mon! I bet I can beat you in ten seconds flat!"

Mir growled playfully at the challenge and both disappeared into the forest, Kaiser giving one final determined cry and Mir giving a slightly squeaky roar in answer.

Evan chuckled and took out a wrapped sandwich and some dried meat from last night's dinner as well as his container of water. It was getting empty. He'll need to refill it soon.

He was just nibbling on his third piece of meat when Kaiser burst back out from the underbrush, panting from running around the forest but eyes bright with excitement as he held up a fish.

"Hey, I found a river nearby! We can go there to catch up some more grub!"

Evan got up excitedly at the news. "Really? Where? And where's Mir?"

"He's at the river," he replied, gesturing behind him and leading him to the water source. "He beat me by only a second!"

Evan grinned. "I'm not surprised. He's got a lot of practice and he's a dragon too."

"Well I was close! I'll beat him next time for sure!"

They made it to the stream where Mir was crouched by the grassy bank, growling at the passing fish and swiping his paws into the water in hopes of catching one but to no avail. Beside him was the carcass of a fish he had already caught earlier.

_Hi master!_ Mir greeted when he noticed his presence nearby.

"Hey Mir," Evan greeted back, sitting beside him. "How's fishing?"

_They're so slippery. They keep slipping from my paws,_ Mir replied, growling once again. _I only caught one._

Kaiser sat beside him as he refilled his water container and sighed. "Boy at this rate we'll never get our lunch. One fish just isn't going to cut it especially if you're feeding a great and mighty warrior and a dragon."

Evan stared contemplatively down at the crystal clear water and the abundance of fish swimming tauntingly just below its surface.

"How'd you catch your fish earlier?" Evan asked, looking at Kaiser.

"Caught it with my bare hands!" Kaiser proclaimed proudly.

Well that wasn't really going to help much.

His eyes caught the canvas bag he had slung over his shoulder and an idea came to him.

"Hey, you don't have a lot inside that do you?"

"Not really. Why?"

"We can use it as a net and catch fish in it if you won't mind it getting wet and smelling a bit afterwards."

Kaiser seemed to brighten at the idea. "Sure I don't mind as long as I get something to eat already."

He opened his pack and dumped its remaining contents consisting of a few small bottles of potion and a canteen on the ground.

"Let's see if it works," Kaiser said, grinning broadly at the thought of lunch.

He pulled the opening as wide as it could go before lowering the bag into the water.

They waited a few moments to see if any of the fish would swim into the trap but they seemed to sense some sort of danger and swam out of its way.

Frowning slightly at the failure, Evan called out to his partner. "Mir, can you splash around over there? Maybe we can scare them into swimming in."

_Will do!_

And the dragon leaped obligingly into the middle of the stream with a loud splash and proceeded to direct the fish towards the bag.

"Whoa!" Kaiser exclaimed as a sudden influx of fish began to fill the bag.

He waited a few more minutes before pulling up his pack, now heavily laden with a load of fish, from the water and setting it down with a dull thump on the grass.

"This'll last us forever!" he cheered happily, gauging the size the bag had grown with its new cargo.

Mir roared joyfully as he bounded out of the river, shaking the water off his scales, and making his way towards the feast before him.

Evan grinned and took out one of the fish, giving it to Mir who happily ate it down as well as the fish he had caught earlier.

Kaiser set about building a fire to cook them.

"That was a great idea," he sighed contentedly as Evan sat across from him in front of the fire.

"Thanks," Evan said, patting Mir on the neck as he trotted over and settled down beside him. He offered his partner another piece of fish which he eagerly swallowed up before bumping his head affectionately against Evan who smiled and scratched the small, thin scales under his chin. Mir sighed blissfully at the attention and seemed to melt under his administrations.

Evan looked back towards the cooking fish and blinked. "Uh… Kaiser?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't know how to cook do you."

Kaiser shrugged. "Not really but how hard could it be to cook fish? You just put them over the fire don't you?"

"Well, you're supposed to gut and clean them first and I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to be that black."

Kaiser groaned and Evan shook his head. "I'll do it," he sighed.

A few minutes later and Kaiser was voraciously scarfing down his fifth fish.

"How did you survive for this long not even knowing how to cook fish?" Evan asked disbelievingly as he stuck another stake in the coals of the fire.

"Eh," Kaiser not-answered. "But this sure beats anything I've been able to do!"

"Yeah I can imagine," Evan muttered to himself, taking a bite out of his own food.

Mir nudged him on the shoulder with his snout and Evan turned his attention to his partner.

_Master, what is that?_ he asked, turning his head towards a small break in the trees on the other side of the stream and directing Evan's line of sight towards the thing of interest.

Evan paused and squinted. He couldn't really see as well through the thick foliage as Mir could with his advanced eyesight but he could still make out a bobbing red thing sticking out of the bushes a distance away, stark against the greenery of the background.

Furrowing his brow in befuddlement, he answered, "I'm not really sure Mir. Why don't we get a closer look?" Turning towards Kaiser, he said, "I'll be right back."

Kaiser made a sound of acknowledgement through his mouthful of fish and the two made their way across the burbling creek to the object of their curiosity.

The red thing was a little clearer now as he stepped onto the other side, resolving itself into what looked like a small red sphere dangling from a bent stalk.

"I guess it's just a berry?" Evan said, face slightly scrunched in thought. "But I don't think berries are like that… They're supposed to grow in bunches on bushes but this one's just… dangling."

He walked over to it and pulled it curiously but yelped when it jerked back from his hand followed by a violent rustle in the bushes before something slammed hard into his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and smashing his body against the tree behind him, forcing out a cry of surprise and pain as his head collided harshly with the wood.

Mir gave a roar of rage from the side and unleashed a frozen jet of ice at his foe who quickly jumped away and turned to retreat towards the creek but a loud battle cry stopped it in its tracks and it leaned to the right just in time to dodge the fiery sword cutting the air from above.

Kaiser growled and twisted his arm in an attempt to change the direction of his blade and slice it where it stood but the nimble creature jumped and skittered back deeper towards the forest but its retreat was impeded by Mir who landed heavily in front of it, getting in between his opponent and the dazed Evan and baring his fangs threateningly at the strange creature that had dared attack his partner.

_Master! Are you alright?_

"You okay?" Kaiser called, eyeing his enemy as it looked frantically for another way to get out.

"Yeah I think," Evan groaned, rubbing his head.

He blinked the stars out of his eyes before turning to look at what they were dealing with.

It was… a bellflower root like the ones he would see occasionally at the Henesys market sold for a ridiculous price for the foreign ingredient except this one was way bigger, had a mouth and little arms, and it was standing on two legs like a human. Its eyes were white rimmed with black and its stare would have been a bit creepy if it weren't for the fact that they were so obviously nervous.

He stared at the weird creature for a while longer before shaking it off. He should be used to this by now. Hadn't he seen weirder things while travelling?

"I think we should just let it go. It doesn't look like it wants to fight and it only attacked 'cause I surprised it," Evan suggested, feeling a bit sorry for the little bellflower root looking a bit panicked at the situation it found itself in.

Kaiser adjusted his sword slightly to get a better grip on it but didn't put it down. "Yeah but who knows what it'll do once we let it go. Let's just defeat it now."

"But it looks harmless," Evan protested, frowning.

"Oh yeah the way it nailed you in the gut like that is _soo_ harmless," Kaiser retorted, rolling his eyes.

Evan bristled and glared angrily at him. "You're being a jerk! It's probably scared and just wants to leave!"

"And what? Let it call its friends? Not a chance," Kaiser scoffed. "Where there's one, there's always another."

A sound interrupted Evan before he could reply and everyone looked at the bellflower root which was dancing around and making unintelligible noises.

"What's it doing?" Kaiser asked, eyeing the root in amusement. "Some kind of funny war dance?"

"I think it's trying to tell us something," Evan mused, staring as the root hopped from one foot to the other and waving its arms through the air frantically.

"Yeah well, it's too bad I don't speak monster," Kaiser sighed. "It's probably nothing anyway."

Its movements grew wilder at that as it struggled with a word it was trying to form. "Ra… Rla… Rast!"

"Rast?" Kaiser asked. "What's that? A secret move?"

The root shook its head and tried again. "R…Ror… sht!"

"Rorsht?" Evan seemed to think for a few minutes before asking, "Do you mean… lost?"

The root swiveled towards him and nodded excitedly as it danced around clapping, its white eyes gleaming in delight.

"Oh you're lost," Evan said, smiling but his face turned puzzled when the root shook its head. "You're not?"

"F… rand."

"Oh your friend's lost," Evan corrected and the root nodded vigorously. "Well… we're kind of lost ourselves. We're just trying to find our way to the nearest town or Herb Town."

At that, the root jumped and clapped, pointing to itself.

"You… know where it is?" Evan asked, brightening.

The root nodded ecstatically, clapping once more while dancing about.

"If we help you find your friend, will you show us the way?"

The root nodded again and Evan looked up at Kaiser.

The Nova let out a huff as he finally sheathed his sword. "Man this is weird but I guess I'm game."

"What about you Mir?"

Mir growled a little at the root who nervously backed away. _As long as it doesn't try to attack you again, _he snorted.

Evan smiled at the root. "Looks like we're all onboard."

The root seemed to grin in relief, the corners of its permanently open mouth quirking upwards, and it jumped happily, rushing forwards to give a hug around his legs.

"Hahaha you're welcome," Evan said, patting it on the stalk.

"So what now? Where do we begin?" Kaiser asked.

"We should probably get our stuff first from camp," Evan suggested.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that," Kaiser admitted sheepishly.

A few minutes later, they were walking through thick underbrush and keeping a careful eye on the red berry hanging off the root's stalk so as not to lose their rather short guide in the vegetation.

Beside him, Kaiser let out a jaw-cracking yawn, arms held behind his head. "I hope this thing knows where its going 'cause I seriously don't," he muttered. "All this walking is getting kind of boring and there's nothing to even fight."

"You were fine before all this."

"Yeah but that was before," Kaiser grunted. "Isn't there anything for me to beat down in this stupid forest?"

"Isn't it good that there aren't any monsters?"

"I'm the awesome Kaiser! I can beat anything that comes at me!"

The root made a noise and came to an abrupt stop, pointing down the small cliff they found themselves standing on.

"Down there?" Evan asked, peering over the edge.

Whatever was below the cliff was shrouded in a thick white mist, blocking off whatever may lay beneath except for the occasional hazy green that managed to poke through the thinner parts of the fog.

"Uh… I really don't think we should go down there," Evan muttered, staring apprehensively down the cliff.

"C'mon what're you afraid of? You could fight can't you? And you have that dragon with you. Besides, even if something does go wrong, I can always fight off whatever's down there," Kaiser said confidently.

Evan made an unconvinced noise.

A tug on his pant legs had him glancing down at the root who jumped once before pointing down.

"_Jump_ down?" Evan asked incredulously, staring disbelievingly at the root who nodded and without further ado, did just that.

"Well, you heard the little guy, off we go."

Evan looked over at Kaiser with wide eyes that suggested he was insane. "Are you crazy? We're not jumping down that!"

Kaiser shrugged. "Suit yourself but I don't see any problems with it if it jumped down first so here. I. GO!"

And with that, Kaiser was over the edge, whooping and disappearing into the sea of white mist.

"Argh!" Evan groaned in frustration, slapping his forehead with a hand.

_I can carry you down master,_ Mir offered but Evan smiled and shook his head.

"No, it's okay Mir. I guess I'll just suck it up and jump down. It shouldn't be that bad." Mir gave him a worried glance to which Evan patted him on the head. "I'll be okay."

_I'll catch you if you need me,_ Mir declared and Evan nodded, taking a deep breath before giving his own leap of faith.

Mir took off and dived down beside him, ready if he ever needed to break his fall.

He landed in some kind of springy plant that bounced him a few more feet before he was finally tossed onto the ground with an 'oomph.'

"Took ya long enough," Kaiser said, helping him back up.

"Yeah well sorry I was a bit uncertain about jumping off a cliff like that," Evan muttered as he was tugged back up before glancing at his surroundings.

They were in some kind of bamboo forest now, the tall, sturdy shoots towering all around them with slithers of mist coiling around the area.

The root looked a bit nervous now, glancing around before putting an arm up to its mouth as a sign to be quiet before beckoning them to follow it.

Kaiser and Evan glanced at each other before moving after the root skirting along the base of the cliff.

They hadn't been walking long before they came across what looked like a mass of confused footprints on the ground that seemed to have stampeded around the dirt before trailing off and disappearing altogether.

The root pointed at it and Evan bent down for a closer look.

"Is this where your friend was before they disappeared?" Evan asked in a whisper and the root nodded.

Kaiser frowned. "Why do we have to be so quiet anyway?"

The root glanced around its surroundings nervously before looking back up at him.

"What? Something hiding in there? Well that's no problem. I can just take it on and then it'll be all over! It'll probably be no match for the amazing Kaiser!"

The root frantically shook its head and flapped the tip of its arm in front of it while putting its other in front of its mouth as a way to ask Kaiser to lower his voice.

Kaiser's face turned disgruntled. "Why not?"

The root threw open both its arms.

Kaiser's brow furrowed in confusion. "Okay, I have no idea what you're trying to say."

Mir suddenly perked and crouched on the ground, letting out a low growl. _Master! Something's coming!_

Evan instantly had his wand out in front of him and Kaiser quickly drew his sword while the root cowered behind them, trembling as it clung to Kaiser's leg.

They waited in tense silence for the threat to emerge, eyes darting around the misty landscape for a glimpse of what may be coming.

Finally, the sound of shuffling caught their attention and they looked towards the source a little to the left in front of them.

Out of the swirling mist and amongst the bamboo in the distance came the silhouette of what looked like a contingent of roundish monsters trundling along in a line, one of which had something wiggling around tucked underneath one of its arms.

Kaiser looked like he wanted to rush at them but Evan pulled him back and slapped a hand over his mouth. When the monsters had disappeared once again in the mist, Evan let him go.

Kaiser grumbled at the treatment and the lost chance to confront the monsters. "Why'd you stop me?"

"Because you'd probably make it worse. Look at him, he's shaking. He's obviously scared of them," Evan replied, frowning before turning to the root. "What was that?"

It squeezed its eyes shut and pointed after the monsters before pointing to itself and hugging its body tightly. "T… ek…" it muttered.

"Tek… T... eh… k… T… ay… Take?"

The root nodded.

The wiggling thing suddenly made sense.

"When you said your friend was lost… Did you really mean kidnapped?"

The root hung its head in shame, nodding dejectedly as tears welled into its eyes.

Evan knelt down and placed a reassuring hand on its back. "Hey, it's okay. You're just trying to help your friend."

"Yeah don't cry! We'll get them back! And everyone else those monsters took and then we're gonna give them a taste of their own medicine!"

_We'll beat up the bad guys and save your friend!_ Mir crowed, huffing and releasing a small puff of smoke from his nostrils.

The root looked up at them hopefully, tears glistening in its eyes.

"We should probably go after them. They'll lead us right where your friend is. C'mon!" Kaiser urged, already running ahead.

"Okay, okay!" Evan answered, picking up the root and putting it on Mir's back. "You'll be safer here and faster."

_Hang on!_ Mir warned before they were bounding through the forest after the line of monsters.

o-O-o

They were led to what looked like a pirate ship anchored at a makeshift bamboo harbor.

Crowds of pirate-like monsters swarmed the area around it, some seeming to be on guard while others were loading goods onto the ship or doing a multitude of other duties onboard. It was a bustle of activity and it would be almost impossible to sneak in without detection.

"How're we going to get in?" Evan muttered from their hiding place crouched behind a couple of abandoned crates a distance away.

Kaiser let out a small noise of frustration. "Why don't we just rush in and beat up whatever tries to stop us?"

Evan directed an annoyed glare at him. "Why is everything fighting with you?"

Kaiser shrugged. "'Cause it's just awesome and I don't see a way around that. Do you? C'mon it'll be quick and easy."

Evan let out a huff of exasperation and ignored him, scanning the area once more.

Kaiser seemed to sulk for a few minutes before brightening. "Hey, why don't I distract them while you go in and get everyone out?"

Evan paused. "That… sounds like a good idea."

"Yes!" Kaiser hissed triumphantly, pumping a fist into the air at the opportunity to do the one thing he's been itching to do all day: show off his mad Kaiser fighting skills to the world!

"Then I'm going now!"

With that, he leaped on top of the crates and launched himself in the middle of the crowd in a fiery blaze.

"Hey sea brains! Are you really as slow as you look or are you just stupid?"

Shouts of alarm and anger rang out into the air and the pirates needed no further prompt before closing in on him like a swarm of ants.

Kaiser laughed and unsheathed his sword, swinging it in front of him with a wicked grin on his face. "Ha! You think you can beat me? Bring it on!"

He swung at the pirates in front of him, an arch of a blazing dragon rendering and scorching the opponents before him and dropped to one knee to duck the sword aimed at him from behind, turning himself as he did so before slicing his sword upward from the ground using the momentum from his previous attack.

Evan watched as Kaiser took on a whole horde of pirates by himself in a somewhat dazed awe.

While Kaiser may not be the sharpest sword in the armory, he was certainly the most formidable. It was in battle where he really shined. While his movements were far from graceful or smooth, they had a certain flow in them as though they were almost instinct and it was clear that he had an innate knack for fighting, that he was truly in his element.

"Eat steel!"

Evan shook himself out of it. Now's not the time to be awed and he quickly darted from behind the crates and discreetly made his way towards the ship with Mir close behind.

He hid underneath the gangplank as more pirates poured out of the ship and he wondered worriedly if Kaiser would be able to handle all these. He'll have to hurry.

He gestured towards Mir and he got on the saddle behind the bellflower root and they flew up to the back of the ship just enough to peek over the edge of the railings for any signs of remaining pirates before landing on the empty deck.

Evan dropped from the saddle and made his way to one of the doors, peeking into its porthole.

This one looked like a dining hall. The next one seemed to be a general storage area. The one after that looked like some kind of resting quarter…

Finally, Evan came upon a porthole with some stairs leading down deeper into the ship and excited, he quickly went in followed by Mir.

The lower levels contained some cannons along with their cannonballs set up beside them with various crates scattered about.

The next level held numerous hammocks strung about between beams of wood where the pirate crew no doubt slept.

The final level held the bulk of boxes and barrels along with heaps of treasure that were most likely stolen. In the far corner in the back was a brig full of bellflower roots just like the one that had guided them down the cliff and standing guard in front of the cell were two pirates who leapt up with sabres ready, shouting and charging at him upon spotting him.

Evan hastily plucked the bellflower root from Mir's back and ushering him towards a hiding spot before pointing his wand towards their charging enemy and shouting, "Mir!"

Mir let out a bellow and rushed at their enemies with Dragon Thrust. The two pirates let out a grunt and slid back a few feet but otherwise didn't seem too affected and Mir pulled back beside Evan, letting out a low, rumbling growl.

"They're pretty strong," Evan muttered. He charged his wand with icy magic and Mir let out a mighty stream of frost from his mouth, hoping to freeze their enemies but again, they were unaffected and Evan ducked to the side as one of the pirates made it to him and attempted to cut him with its weapon while Mir jumped over the other pirate, skidding beside Evan and unleashing a powerful jolt of electricity from his horns.

"It's not working! They're way above our level!" Evan grunted as he teleported away from the pirates.

_What do we do?_ Mir asked as he swooped over them and attempted to claw at their faces as they tried to pursue his partner.

_Lure them out first, _Evan decided, answering through their mental link and scrambling back up the stairs with Mir darting close behind followed by the pirates spitting out words after them in their own language.

"If only we could stop them somehow," Evan muttered, eyes darting around the hammocks. _Mir! We'll tie them up with these!_

_How?_ he asked as he shot a Magic Missile at one of the pirates that were coming a little too close.

_Distract them for a little while! _Evan called back as he tore a few hammocks down with the help of his wand.

Mir growled and unleashed another spray of ice as Evan ran from hammock to hammock but one of the pirates managed to move out of the way of the frigid spray after a moment and headed towards Evan. Mir instantly redirected his attack but yelped in pain as the other pirate took the opportunity to slash at Mir's open defense, drawing a shallow cut across his scales.

Incensed, Mir grabbed the sword with powerful jaws and twisted it out of the surprised pirate's hand, throwing it into some obscure part of the room before forcefully whipping around and smacking it with his tail, leaving the pirate to crash into a pile of crates standing to the side.

Mir turned his attention to the other pirate and roared with rage as he spotted it standing over Evan, deadly sabre an inch away from his nose as it pressed hard against the wand blocking it from delivering the final blow.

Mir leapt and dived at the pirate with all the strength he could muster, tackling the pirate off his partner and allowing him to scrabble away to safety to finish his task.

The pirate let out a yell and hacked at Mir vigorously to dislodge him from where he had it pinned on the ground. Mir growled low in his throat as a few hits landed and he dug his claws into the pirate, using the pain to grab the sabre from its waving hand and tossing it aside as he had done to the first sabre.

_Mir! Behind you!_

Mir swerved his head around and let loose a pillar of blinding light to momentarily stun it before hurling at his new opponent.

_Mir! I'm ready! Grab the end of the rope a few feet away ahead of you!_

Mir kicked off the pirate and launched himself at the rope lying on the wooden planks, snatching the cord as he moved, and waited as the pirates came nearer. When they were only two feet away, he quickly ducked to the side and looped the rope and hammock construction around them just as Evan was doing. Soon the two pirates were wrapped tightly inside the makeshift binding, yelling and struggling angrily as Evan tied it as tightly as he could.

"C'mon!"

They raced back down to the level where the bellflower roots were held to find their root attempting to break open the lock.

"Everyone step away from the door," Evan instructed hurriedly which they immediately obeyed. "Mir! Magic Flare!"

His wand glowed a bright yellow and Mir summoned another pillar of light, completely destroying the padlock. Evan pulled open the door and the captured bellflower roots flooded out.

"Let's go!" Evan cried, taking the lead of the small crowd of prisoners, running up the stairs, past the tied-up pirates, up through the cannons and finally up onto the deck where the sounds of fighting became even more pronounced.

Evan took a glance towards the battle and bit his lip.

Even from this distance and even with the fading light of sunset, he could tell that Kaiser's movements were more sluggish compared to his previously vigorous swings and it was clear he was growing tired. He can't keep this up for long.

He turned to the bellflower root that had led them this far and said, "Can you lead your friends to safety? I'm going to help Kaiser, okay?"

The root seemed to hesitate before nodding. It turned back to its brethren and said something in its language before the mass continued along the deck to the gangplank where they could hopefully escape without notice.

Evan mounted Mir and they leapt towards their friend, the dragon letting out a fierce bellow as he landed and charged through their midst to make their way to Kaiser.

"Hey Evan. They make it out alright?" Kaiser asked, breathing heavily and blocking an attack at his side with a grunt.

"Yeah they should be escaping now. We just have to distract them for a little while longer so they have enough time to escape," Evan replied as he directed Mir to use Magic Flare.

"Hey no problem. I'm all about distracting but uh… let's not keep this up for too long, kay?" Kaiser said, blocking yet another attack and throwing the sabre off with a fiery one of his own.

"Yeah just… two more minutes," Evan replied, burning a hand holding a sabre aimed towards Kaiser.

Kaiser nodded and concentrated on the fight once again.

As the two minutes drew closer, Evan gave Kaiser a small nudge and the Nova grinned.

"It's been nice losers!" he laughed before leaping through the air and over the pirates' heads in a spectacular flurry of flames, Evan close behind as he teleported through the crowd with Mir taking off to the skies.

There was a frenzy as the pirates pursued them through the bamboo but they were too fast for the cumbersome bulk of the monsters and before long, they had lost them in the darkness and the mist of the forest.

They collapsed on the ground, catching their breath and grimacing at the injuries they had accrued, Kaiser bearing the most and worst of them between the three of them.

"We… need to… clean and… bandage you up," Evan said, sitting up and looking over his friend worriedly.

In the fading light, he could see that his armor was a little worse for wear and he could see bloody cuts on almost every part of his body. His skin and hair was slick with sweat and he looked absolutely drained.

"I'm okay… S'not like this'll kill me," Kaiser mumbled.

"I should have a few potions with me," Evan mumbled, going through a few of Mir's saddlebags before pulling out a bottle filled with magenta liquid. "Here, drink this."

Kaiser winced as he sat up and took the potion, uttering a quick "Thanks," before gulping it down gratefully. He sighed as the concoction took away some of the edge of his injuries and a bit of his strength returned to him.

"That's better. So where are the little fellows?"

"I don't really know. They should have escaped to the east side of the forest," Evan offered, knitting his brows. "I hope they made it alright."

"Yeah," Kaiser agreed, flopping back onto the ground.

Evan shook his head. "We can't stay here. They could find us again and you're still injured."

"Yeah but we don't even know where we are," Kaiser huffed.

"Oh yeah…" He hadn't really thought about that…

Mir's head rose in alarm but relaxed again as he noticed that the shapes in the mist were too small to have been the pirates.

Bellflower roots emerged from within the gloom and surrounded them, helping them up and providing some support as they started to lead them towards some location they assumed was their homes with Mir trailing behind them after Evan refused his offer to carry him. Mir was probably more tired than he was.

The roots took them through the seemingly endless bamboo forest until they came upon a quaint-looking town near the water's edge where they were herded through its inhabitants of pandas and the occasional root until they reached one of the huts.

Without a word, the panda inside what looked to be a clinic ushered them to beds which Kaiser gladly collapsed into before quickly snoring in a fitful sleep while Evan sat quietly as the old panda treated his wounds along with Mir's. She gave them some kind of medicine to drink and tutted at Kaiser's sleeping form before turning back to him.

"You get some sleep too. You've probably had a long day today."

Evan nodded in agreement and settled back onto the bed, closing his eyes and drifting off into the world of dreams.

o-O-o

Evan awoke to the sounds of laughter.

He opened his eyes and groaned, still bleary from his sleep but otherwise feeling one hundred percent again. Looking around, he noticed that Mir was gone and Kaiser's bed across from him was a haphazard mess so he could only assume that they had gone outside.

He stretched and let out a yawn before making his way to the door to take a look at what the morning had brought.

A whole cluster of bellflower roots and a few panda children were gathered in the area in front of him or more specifically, gathered around Kaiser and Mir as they jovially ran about in some kind of game with the village inhabitants.

Upon noticing him, Mir bounded over to him with a delighted cry of, _Master!_

Evan smiled at his partner and rubbed him along the length of his neck. "Morning Mir."

"Hey Evan!" Kaiser greeted as he trotted over to him.

"Hey. I can't believe you're up already," Evan commented.

Kaiser simply scoffed and said, "Something as small as that can't keep me down!"

"I see you're finally awake."

They both turned and watched as the panda who had taken them in the night before made her way over carrying a small pouch tied to a string.

"Yeah I am. Thanks for your help ma'am," Evan said politely.

The old panda smiled and shook her head. "There's no need to thank me boy. You have done more than enough by rescuing those bellflower roots," she chuckled in a somewhat hoarse voice. "Those nefarious pirates have been going around plucking them right off the ground recently and your help has been greatly appreciated."

"It's no problem ma'am."

"You two can stay here as long as you want. Herb Town is more than happy to house you. Why don't you come in now for some breakfast?"

"Oh yes please! I'm starving!" Kaiser announced, following the old panda back inside the hut.

After a meal of some congee with some kind of fried bread, boiled eggs, and soy milk and a bunch of fish for Mir, the three headed back outside.

"The old lady told me that I could go back to Ludibrium by taking the stork to Orbis Station and then taking the train. Sounds like it's gonna be a long journey so I'm heading out now. What about you?"

"I'm sticking for a while longer. Someone named Captain Hwang from around here has something I need."

"Okay then." He stuck out a hand and they shook. "I'll see ya around. It's been great travelling with you and your dragon. Let's do it again sometime!"

Evan grinned. "Yeah same here. I'll see you around."

_Bye-bye!_

"Bye!"

"Don't get lost again!"

That earned him an eye roll before Kaiser turned around and headed towards the Stork while Evan and Mir headed their own separate ways.

Travelling with Kaiser had been a fun experience all things considered and Kaiser himself had been an interesting person. He hoped they could meet again someday in the future and share another adventure like this together.

* * *

Out of all the characters Nexon has made so far, Kaiser is by far my most _favorite!_ He's so full of color as a character and full of fun! I think if he ever met Evan, they'd be pretty good friends. They're pretty similar in some ways being two children having adult responsibilities pushed on them. It was pretty fun writing their interaction especially Evan's since this would be the first time I'm writing him with someone else on an equal playing field. The two can derp around Maple World together on whacky derp adventures! :P I kinda feel bad for Mir though. He seems to be left out an awful lot ;_;

I had no idea where I was going with this while I was writing it. I just went with the flow and it turned into this so I had not planned the pirate fight or anything else for that matter XD Hope I nailed the fighting well. But man, let me tell ya, writing Kaiser as a somewhat mature kid is not easy. Also it's been a while since I've played Evan's questline so please forgive any inaccuracies. I only had scarce references to work with but I believe he goes to Herb Town for the Map of Turtle Island at level 70.

Written to the tune of Pantheon Field 'cause it fits at the beginning hahaha.

I would place Evan and Kaiser somewhere between level 60 and 70.


End file.
